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NHS Connecting for Health has warned health organisations to move to a later version of Microsoft Internet Explorer amid browser security concerns.

Specifically, NHS Connecting for Health (CfH) wants any organisations still using Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 to switch to Internet Explorer 7.

The majority of organisations within the NHS have been using IE6 for internet and intranet access following a national licensing deal the Department of Health signed with Microsoft in October 2001.

Many had not switched to later versions following an instruction from CfH not to do so until it could establish that the software worked with national applications delivered by the programme and prime contractors.

However, CfH has changed its stance after Microsoft confirmed that attacks against Google in China had been as a result of a security hole in IE6.

The Cabinet Office has issued an alert on how to deal with this incident and follows similar moves by French and German authorities.

CfH issues a guidance statement urging health trusts to update software to avoid leaving themselves vulnerable to security breaches.

The guidance states: “It is recommended that this update is applied to all affected computers within an organisation. Organisations should ensure that appropriate levels of testing of the update take place prior to mass deployment.

“It is additionally further recommended that organisations still using Internet Explorer 6 on the affected platforms upgrade to Internet Explorer 7.

Microsoft has an enterprise-wide agreement with the NHS, which is due for renewal this year. It maintains that internet explorer is still the most secure browser on the market.

 

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